The Fleet Report and Daily for Friday December 23rd, 2022

[Heartgrove]

Happy Birthday @kochleffel!

[Sharon in AZ]

We were in Key West January 2015 on the Nieuw Amsterdam but I have no pictures.  Back then I had Craig take the pictures so I’ll check his phone and see what he has. I do remember we walked around on our own and went to the Hemingway house and Truman’s Little White House. If I find anything I’ll post later. 

[smitty34877]

@grapau27, Graham, thank you so much.Enjoy the day tomorrow  with your Sarah for her birthday. 

@JazzyV  Vanessa, I never watched Seinfeld  either.My adult children think I am odd(!) I am...

@StLouisCruisers , Sandi, travel safely tomorrow

@aliaschief,Bruce, it sounds like a lot of fun in  your DD's house.Enjoy!

[StLouisCruisers]

26 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Pleased for you Sandi.

Take care on your drive and I hope you have an amazing Christmas with your family.

Graham.

 

Graham, please tell Sarah happy birthday tomorrow from all of us!  🎂

 

And thanks for your good wishes.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good morning from a frigid central Texas where it is still windy, but not as windy as yesterday and last night.  Right now the sun is out, but the clouds will move back in in a couple of hours.  The lowest temperature I saw last night was 13F.  Right now, it it is 14F with a wind chill of -1F, which is cold for us.  Our highs today will be about 24F, and it should be above freezing by tomorrow afternoon, but will dip back into the 20s tomorrow night before a warming trend takes hold.  

 

Surprisingly, the space heater in the motorhome kept the inside temperatures in the upper 30s to mid 40s.  Right now, the regular heater is on to warm the lower storage compartments and the water tank to keep it from freezing.

 

There's not much on the agenda today except making the cornbread for the dressing on Sunday.  I'll also need to figure out how to prepare the Christmas dinner for Tuesday when DD and DSIL are here.  Everything cooks at a different temperature and time.  Somehow, it will all get done, and hopefully, at about the same time. 

 

I watched a few episodes of Seinfeld, but I do know what Festivus is.  We've also watched a few Christmas movies, and will definitely watch Christmas Story on Christmas Eve.  It's become a Christmas tradition.  I have not had Pfeffernusse cookies, but they sound good.

 

The Les Brown quote is very good, and I hope to follow the advice.

 

We'll pass on the meal and the drink (the color is a little off putting).  Tonight will be comfort food, chili dogs.  The wine sounds interesting and the price isn't too bad.  😉

 

We have been to Key West several times on land trips and on cruises.  However, only two were in the digital age, and I didn't take any pictures on one of those stops.  I'll repost the few I shared in a bit.

 

@rafinmd  Roy, thank you for doing triple duty with the Daily, your lists and the Bon Voyage thread for Jacqui @kazu.

@puppycanducruise  Melanie, I hope you do not lose power, and stay safe during the storm.

@cat shepard  Ann, thank you for the wine review while you are visiting your nephew and family.  I'm glad the trip wasn't too bad and the traffic wasn't as bad as expected.  Take care during the storm.

@StLouisCruisers  Sandi, thanks for the link to the Key West photos.  I'm glad you are both negative, and safe travels tomorrow.  I'll look for the link to the port of the day tomorrow, but it may be a little later in the morning than you look.

@Crazy For Cats  Jake, I'm glad you are feeling better and hope you are 100% soon.

@kochleffel  🎈  HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 🎂

@smitty34877  Terry, I'm sorry Tana's aide is sick and there is no replacement.  It's good everyone is pitching in to help.  Hope everyone can get some rest.

@superoma  Eva, stay safe during the storm and I hope you don't lose power.

@grapau27  Graham, if I forget tomorrow, please wish Sarah a very happy birthday from us.

 

Lenda

 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

We've have been to Key West several times by ship and once on a land trip.  We visited Truman's Little White House and the Fisher Museum, and walked by Hemingway's house.  Of course, we've also gone to see Sloppy Joe's Bar.  Our go to place, is a key lime pie company for a slice of pie and some to take back to the ship.  Our last two visits were by cruise ship, both in 2002.  For some reason, I did not take many pictures when we were there on the old Noordam, and I did not take any later that year when we were there on the Rhapsody of the Seas.  The rest of my pictures are pre-digital.  @summer slope, @Mtn2Sea, @Cruising-along and @sailingdutchy Thank you for posting your pictures.

 

Here are the pictures I took in 2002, and all but one are from the ship.

 

Lenda

[quilty964]

Good morning from the Wisconsin Frozen Tundra.  -10 F now with very nasty winds.  Not a lot of snow yesterday, but lots of blowing around.  We're staying in today!  

We've been to Key West on Nieuw Amsterdam in February of 2020, just before covid shut things down.  We did the trolly tour, then walked around and saw the southernmost spot.  

 

Happy birthday to @kochleffeland to Sarah tomorrow.  Safe travels to all, prayers for all that need them, and cheers for everyone else!  Karen

 

 

[summer slope]

@StLouisCruiserssafe travels and enjoy your family.  Very happy your tests were negative.

[HAL4NOW]

Like so many of you, we are experiencing cold temperatures in Skykomish; it has warmed up to 17F and may warm even more before Christmas. Power went out a few hours ago, so I got up and shoveled the drifted snow off of our covered patio so I could get to the generator and get that started. We only got about six new inches of snow on top of the two feet already on the ground. Because of the wind, any paths we make through the yard get backfilled with drifts. We expect another 16" of new snow today to add to what we have.

I am actually slow-cooking a beef rib eye roast that I planned to cook in the oven today. I don't want to run the oven that long on generator power. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by HAL4NOW

[puppycanducruise]

@kochleffel Happy Birthday! 🎂

 

@StLouisCruisers Glad your test was negative.  Safe travels.

[rafinmd]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Happy birthday.

+1

Roy

[cat shepard]

@kochleffel

 

Happy Birthday! May your new year be filled with laughter, love, great health & a cruise!

 

[quilty964]

@HAL4NOWOh my!  That sounds bad.  Stay safe!  

[Himself]

Roy

 

Thank you for the fleet report,

[sailingdutchy]

Thank you Roy @rafinmd for keeping todays edition of the Daily going very much appreciated!

 

And a very good morning to all from a very blistery SW Ontario we might have to built an igloo to stay warm , thank you for the Daily to all of the contributors .

 

Just a couple of pictures today from me from when we were in Key West on one of my favourite ships the Rotterdam  VI  on April 9 , 2018 .

 

 

We have see this act in a few other places in the US and I have to think back to 1945 everytime I see this.

 

 

 

 

 

Have a very nice day  everybody , have to put another log on the fire to keep DW comfortable .

Also hoping that everything will go down to normal so we can fly to San Diego in a couple of weeks to defrost on the Koningsdam !

 

Tony 😃

[kazu]

56 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

@rafinmd  Roy, thank you for doing triple duty with the Daily, your lists and the Bon Voyage thread for Jacqui @kazu.

 

I second that 😉. 

 

Amazingly enough I remembered it was Friday and did get the Future Cruise Listing done.

 

@StLouisCruisersso glad to hear you are both negative.  Very safe travels to you 🙂 

 

@kochleffelHappy Birthday.

 

Sounds like there are some very bad storms affecting a number.  Hoping no one has to go out in it or loses power 🤞 

 

Good morning from the Koningsdam

 

[sailingdutchy]

BTW when we were in Key West in 2018  we saw this very strange , unmarked ship it looks like a huge catamaran and from what people told us it belongs to the US Navy . 

 

Than when we were on the Oosterdam a couple of months ago we saw it again in one of the ports in Europe , I believe it was in Italy again away from where we could have a good look at IT  up close.

 

Maybe @Copper10-8 or someone else of our CC family can tell us more  what this is and what it is used for .

 

Tony

 

 

[Overhead Fred]

Love Pfeffernusse! My mom always baked them (and tons of other cookies) at Christmas. Mitzi and I have cut way down on the holiday baking as part of watching our carb intake. Now we only do 2 or 3 types of cookies and Pfeffernusse wasn't on this years list. 

 

We made Leckerli and Jewish Butter cookies as usual and figured that would be enough. But since we had all the equipment dirty already and there was an interesting "Fruit Cake Cookie" recipe on one of the candied fruit tubs, we decided to give it a try. They were actually pretty good and maybe we'll add them to the rotation!

 

[durangoscots]

It is sunny here, no wind and the temperature at 10am is 28F.  Highs for the next few days are forecast to be in the low 40s. While we need moisture, I am glad the storm and the cold is holding east of us. I am late this morning.... I woke up in the night, could not sleep so got up and did a few things around the house. Crawled back into bed about 5:30 and slept in. The dogs cooperated. Just having my first cup of coffee now. I think it will be a slow day.

 

One of my chores this morning before returning to bed was to clip together a set of doggie steps so  little Monty can get up on the sofa. It was a Christmas present to him and to me since I was getting tired of lifting him up 4 or 5 times an evening. Bandit jumps up there and Monty wants to be with "his" Bandit. Managed to get the steps put together with no damage to fingers and a minimum of cursing.

 

Today will be rearranging some furniture in my spare bedroom and, hopefully, putting some of the stuff stored in there in a trash. I also will make a quick trip the shelter to check on an expectant Mama dog. We are taking bets on when and how many. She is huge. Would rather be cruising.

 

Susan

 

 

 

 

 

 

[catmando]

Marshhawk, my DW, told me the port of the day was Key West.  So, for the first time, I thought I would post a few pictures.

Got to have coffee

a view of the cityWhat's Key West without a chicken?
A war memorial

 A memorial garden with Truman and Hemmingway protected from the sun with my hat

 

 

 our Coast Guard standing by

I really enjoyed our brief stay, the weather was great and the food excellent.

Edited December 23, 2022 by catmando

[StLouisCruisers]

2 hours ago, dfish said:

 

Safe travels.

 

 

I'm glad  you liked the recipes.  Sorry that Tana's aide is out sick.  Hopefully, others are pitching in as both of you need help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, JazzyV said:

Good morning. Thanks for the Fleet Report/Daily @rafinmd.

I'm one of the few who has never watched Seinfeld, but I've heard of Festivus. No time to watch Christmas movies today. I like Pfeffernusse and have made them in the past. Great quote. The meal sounds good (sans olives!). Pass on the drink and I'll take the wine.

I've never been to Key West. It was to be the first stop on my aborted cruise last month.

 

Well, the weather is frightful. We've dropped from 40F early this AM to 4F, with a wind chill of -22F. The winds have been howling, up to 55 mph, rattling my storm windows. Ice and snow on the roads. Luckily I still have power, although I see reports of outages around me. I'm going to try to bake a couple of things while I still can. Praying my power stays on with it being so cold out!

 

@rafinmd Thanks for stepping in for Rich today starting the Fleet Report and for our lists.

@grapau27 Early Happy Birthday to Sarah!

@Crazy For Cats Good to hear you're feeling better.

@dfish I'm glad Sue arrived safely. 

@kochleffel Happy Birthday!

@smitty34877 Swedish Christmas Eve sounds delightful. Sorry to hear there's been no aide for Tana; hopefully that is remedied soon. Take care of yourself too.

@StLouisCruisers Good news on the tests, and safe travels tomorrow.

 

Prayers for the Care List and Cheers for the Celebration List.

Stay safe everyone.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, smitty34877 said:

@grapau27, Graham, thank you so much.Enjoy the day tomorrow  with your Sarah for her birthday. 

@JazzyV  Vanessa, I never watched Seinfeld  either.My adult children think I am odd(!) I am...

@StLouisCruisers , Sandi, travel safely tomorrow

@aliaschief,Bruce, it sounds like a lot of fun in  your DD's house.Enjoy!

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Good morning from a frigid central Texas where it is still windy, but not as windy as yesterday and last night.  Right now the sun is out, but the clouds will move back in in a couple of hours.  The lowest temperature I saw last night was 13F.  Right now, it it is 14F with a wind chill of -1F, which is cold for us.  Our highs today will be about 24F, and it should be above freezing by tomorrow afternoon, but will dip back into the 20s tomorrow night before a warming trend takes hold.  

 

Surprisingly, the space heater in the motorhome kept the inside temperatures in the upper 30s to mid 40s.  Right now, the regular heater is on to warm the lower storage compartments and the water tank to keep it from freezing.

 

There's not much on the agenda today except making the cornbread for the dressing on Sunday.  I'll also need to figure out how to prepare the Christmas dinner for Tuesday when DD and DSIL are here.  Everything cooks at a different temperature and time.  Somehow, it will all get done, and hopefully, at about the same time. 

 

I watched a few episodes of Seinfeld, but I do know what Festivus is.  We've also watched a few Christmas movies, and will definitely watch Christmas Story on Christmas Eve.  It's become a Christmas tradition.  I have not had Pfeffernusse cookies, but they sound good.

 

The Les Brown quote is very good, and I hope to follow the advice.

 

We'll pass on the meal and the drink (the color is a little off putting).  Tonight will be comfort food, chili dogs.  The wine sounds interesting and the price isn't too bad.  😉

 

We have been to Key West several times on land trips and on cruises.  However, only two were in the digital age, and I didn't take any pictures on one of those stops.  I'll repost the few I shared in a bit.

 

@rafinmd  Roy, thank you for doing triple duty with the Daily, your lists and the Bon Voyage thread for Jacqui @kazu.

@puppycanducruise  Melanie, I hope you do not lose power, and stay safe during the storm.

@cat shepard  Ann, thank you for the wine review while you are visiting your nephew and family.  I'm glad the trip wasn't too bad and the traffic wasn't as bad as expected.  Take care during the storm.

@StLouisCruisers  Sandi, thanks for the link to the Key West photos.  I'm glad you are both negative, and safe travels tomorrow.  I'll look for the link to the port of the day tomorrow, but it may be a little later in the morning than you look.

@Crazy For Cats  Jake, I'm glad you are feeling better and hope you are 100% soon.

@kochleffel  🎈  HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 🎂

@smitty34877  Terry, I'm sorry Tana's aide is sick and there is no replacement.  It's good everyone is pitching in to help.  Hope everyone can get some rest.

@superoma  Eva, stay safe during the storm and I hope you don't lose power.

@grapau27  Graham, if I forget tomorrow, please wish Sarah a very happy birthday from us.

 

Lenda

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, summer slope said:

@StLouisCruiserssafe travels and enjoy your family.  Very happy your tests were negative.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, puppycanducruise said:

@kochleffel Happy Birthday! 🎂

 

@StLouisCruisers Glad your test was negative.  Safe travels.

 

 

 

39 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I second that 😉. 

 

Amazingly enough I remembered it was Friday and did get the Future Cruise Listing done.

 

@StLouisCruisersso glad to hear you are both negative.  Very safe travels to you 🙂 

 

@kochleffelHappy Birthday.

 

Sounds like there are some very bad storms affecting a number.  Hoping no one has to go out in it or loses power 🤞 

 

Good morning from the Koningsdam

 

 

 

Thank you all for your kind wishes for safe travel tomorrow.  DD had 6+ inches of snow and it's blowing in the high winds.  There hasn't been a snow plow in her neighborhood yet today.  There are 3 very steep hills to drive up to get to her house.  Rather worried about that.  We're taking our Acura MDX SUV but it is not 4 wheel drive, so all wheel drive will have to do.

[Overhead Fred]

We have been to Key West on HAL twice but it seems questionable that they will be going there in the future. Which, from our point of view, is too bad because we really liked the port. 

 

 

Butterfly Conservatory -

 

 

 

[cat shepard]

24 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you all for your kind wishes for safe travel tomorrow.  DD had 6+ inches of snow and it's blowing in the high winds.  There hasn't been a snow plow in her neighborhood yet today.  There are 3 very steep hills to drive up to get to her house.  Rather worried about that.  We're taking our Acura MDX SUV but it is not 4 wheel drive, so all wheel drive will have to do.

Sandi

 

Think of it as honing your winter driving skills.  Best wishes for safe travel. 
 

That is how I got through Boston traffic - thinking I was honing my Boston driving skills. Those defensive driving skills are very useful in Florida. 

[rafinmd]

I had an interesting 12 hours or so this morning.  I was given 6 new prescriptions.  One was backordered by the pharmacy and I finally stopped waiting and picked them up yesterday.  I don't know if it was a side effect of one of the meds but last night I had to get up for the bathroom (fortunately the quick and easy way) so sleep was not the best quality.  I had planned a number of errands this morning but the weather forecast was ominous, and I decided to start pretty early before the worst of it hit.  I left the house about 7:30 and started at the Mall where I walked about 30 minutes and then  hit 3 grocery stores.  First was Wegmans, east of the Mall where I actually bought groceries.  It was 47 and raining when I left home and 42 and raining when I left the Mall.  It was 37 and still raining when I left Wegmans.  Next was the gas station and my primary grocery (west of home)   where I picked up the prescription that was not ready yesterday.   When I left there it was 34 and there was a brief snow squall.  The final stop was the grocery close to home where I picked up a package from an Amazon locker.

 

I was home about 10, I think pretty much just in time and the forecast is for a flash freeze tonight going down to single digit temps overnight and wind chills below zero.

 

Roy

[Vict0riann]

Good morning! Thank you, Roy, for taking on so many duties here on CC, Happy birthday to @kochleffel today, and to our Sarah tomorrow.  Hope everyone stays well for the weekend.

 

Here things are quiet.  So far, so good!  There was freezing rain when Pat got up at first light to put out the hummingbird feeders, but he came back to bed and now it seems as if there is just a light dusting of snow on top of the foot and a half that was already there.  We were supposed to have snow then ice pellets and then freezing rain.  Hopefully now the temperature will begin rising and a warm rain will melt everything - then we're supposed to have some flooding.  Everyone is asked to clear their storm drains.

 

Today I will pack, so I don't have to think about it over the weekend.  I wake up in the middle of the night and spend my wakeful moments thinking about what I must remember to put out.  Pat will wait until Monday to pack, I'm sure.

 

At least the days have started to get longer again - Spring will be here soon!